Torn to Pieces
by ShilohWhittier
Summary: Clearly, life is never forgiving for the Reid family. Weeks before his wife, Zoe, is to have their second child - their three year old daughter is abducted. Will the trauma finally tear the couple apart, or make them stronger still? Part 4 in ongoing Spencer/Zoe series. More information inside.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! Welcome back, if you're returning, or welcome if this is your first time. This is part 4 (wow!) of my ongoing series with Spencer Reid and my OC - Zoe. There was some confusion to why I stopped the last story where I did, and honestly, I just felt like it was time to change things up, and I had an idea that would take too many chapters to keep it continued in Home. So here, is Part 4 - Torn to Pieces. I encourage everyone to review, give feedback, whichever. If you're just now clicking, the other stories can be found on my profile (: Enjoy!**

* * *

Spencer was numb.

Zoe, however, was screaming. Hysterical. Crying inconsolably.

To be honest, he watched the scene on mute. Like the world had suddenly gone silent. He watched as his wife shouted at the officer. At Morgan. And then at him. She'd never shouted at him, never the less even raised her voice towards him, and now she was unleashing a fury in his direction unlike he'd ever seen. And all he could do is stare. Was he in shock?

_She's gone! _she screamed, although it was as if he heard it underwater. She'd fallen to the floor, clutching her round stomach, her curls flying every which way.

He leaned against the wall. Oddly enough, a memory from their honeymoon came floating back to him. Zoe wearing a blue sun dress and laughing above him, straddling him and talking as the rich fragrant breeze from outside filled the room and moved her hair gracefully. _I love you _she whispered down at him.

"This is your job!" she was screaming, choking out words between sobs.

She hated him. No, she didn't, said some logical voice in the back of her mind, but the grief, the terror, they were louder. He should have been here.

But it was her fault.

* * *

"I'll be right back, Nat." she called at her daughter, who splashed in the kiddie pool in the front yard. She rushed, as fast as a pregnant woman could rush, to the front door and inside for a towel, which she had forgotten to grab when she had set out to fill up the small pool. It was only half a minute, maybe even 60 seconds, top. And when she returned, it was like all of her nightmares, all of her anxieties and worries had come to light. She'd heard her daughter scream, she heard the tires screech.

She was gone.

At first she had been operating on reflex. She'd calmly dialed the phone, less than calmly explained the situation to the operator, and by the time the police showed up she was bordering on unhinged.

When she finally called Spencer, she was hardly comprehensible.

* * *

For some reason, out of nowhere, Spencer was knocked out of his numbness. His eyes focused on his wife, and he reached for her, falling to his knees.

"Zoe." he said sternly. A sob caught in her throat as he surprised her. He set his hand on the back of her neck and rubbed away a tear with his thumb. "Listen to me. If you remain this hysterical, something could happen to our baby." he touched her stomach, and felt excited kicks within. "I swear to god, Zo, there isn't anything that can stop me from finding her. I'm going to do this, and it's going to be okay."

She bent her head down and wailed, grasping his hand and squeezing. "They're hurting her." she whispered.

And though a tiny piece of Spencer knew that was true, he would not allow the thought to enter his mind, otherwise, he'd be just as broken as Zoe.

* * *

The team had worked cases of loved ones before, and even cases of their fellow team members. But this, this was different. This child was one they'd grown to love as much as her father, and they began work with more fervor and determination than ever before.

Garcia, looking unusually un-spunky, had arrived to the BAU headquarters in pajamas and lacking makeup. She tried to remain stable and she sifted through every traffic light camera footage she could get her hands on. As for now, it was all she could do.

Technically, working this case was a conflict of interest. But nobody had time for technically, they could deal with internal affairs later. After they found Natalie.

To Spencer, it was clear this wasn't random. There was a vendetta against him, there had to be, because nothing else made sense. Of course, children were randomly abducted by strangers everyday, but the numbers didn't add up. This was personal.

* * *

Natalie sat in the crate in the back of the van, crying. It was so dark. She cried out for her mommy, her daddy - she wondered, in the innocent way a child does, what she had done wrong to deserve this.

She was curled up against the back corner of the crate, hugging her knees to her chest, shivering. She wanted her bed, she wanted her blanket and her mommy and her daddy and she didn't want this.

It was so cold in the back of the van, like the inside of the fridge. She'd never been so cold. Again, she cried out for her parents.

* * *

As the team began to work around her, Zoe felt detached. She felt broken, torn open, like something inside her had been ripped out. She was so close to having the baby, it was due in less than a month. She had a beautiful house, a beautiful family, and it had all suddenly been smashed to pieces.

She wandered the house aimlessly, trying to remain calm physically, because the baby's furious kicking concerned her. She wanted to return to hours before, to not dash inside without her daughter. To redo it all, and keep her safe.

Zoe was a person who knew things. She had plans, she understood things, she absorbed her surroundings and they made sense. But this didn't make sense. This broke her.

She found herself back in her and Spencer's bedroom. She smoothed the blankets on the bed, and then stood before the mirror, looking at her soft, pregnant form. She cradled her stomach, whispering things to the baby within.

"Daddy's going to fix it." she said softly, as though reassuring not only the baby, but herself. "And it'll be like nothing ever happened."


	2. Chapter 2

Spencer found Zoe curled up on the bed around midnight. He'd been sifting through every possible case, every loose end he could think of for hours with Morgan and Hotch. Things remained bleak. She'd be gone 4 hours as he stepped into the bedroom.

As Zoe's eyes followed him as he walked around to his side of the bed, he felt what protective layer of non-emotion he'd been building begin to crumble. He collapsed onto the bed, and Zoe inched towards him. He saw the picture she had grasped in her hand, and it finally shattered him. A tear slipped down his cheek, and Zoe watched it, and reached for him. He buried his face in her neck and sobbed, raggedly gasping and apologizing. She cradled him against her and then Zoe broke down as well, and they held one another and cried until they both fell asleep from exhaustion.

* * *

Natalie shivered uncontrollably. When she blinked, she felt ice on her eyelashes, and the tears on her face had solidified. She didn't understand what was going on anymore, she was hardly conscious. She couldn't register where she was.

She was, in fact, about to be moved out of the refrigerated van and into the basement of the house of her captor. As soon as the night rushed in as the doors were opened, she was awoken from her slight slumber. Confused, she looked up at the silhouette reaching for her.

"Daddy?" she whispered. It was just another nightmare. Soon he'd be holding her and telling her stories and she'd fall asleep in between her mother and father, curled underneath their fluffy comforter.

Someone laughed, and her stomach sank. Not momma, not daddy. Stranger.

* * *

When dawn broke, Zoe woke up. Spencer was gone.

The rest of the team had worked all night long. Garcia's eyes had hardly left her screen and her fingers flew across every key faster than they ever had. She guzzled coffee and shoved down any emotion that could start to bubble up.

Morgan worked closely with the PD. There was a state-wide Amber Alert issued for her, and man hunts were being organized. Nobody took the missing child of a federal agent very lightly.

The team reached every corner of the state, and swept it in every area they could.

Spencer paced in the kitchen, the few hours of sleep he'd gotten had somewhat refreshed his panicked mind.

Zoe tiptoed out and found him. She craved coffee more than she had... probably ever. She wanted to break down and cry again, but she swallowed back her tears.

"Spence-" she whispered. "Has anything...?" she trailed off.

"There's a couple of leads." he said. "But nothing solid yet. They're following up on everything though."

"What can I do?" she asked quietly, biting down on her lip.

She just wanted her baby back.

"Stay with me." he said. She smiled, but barely.

"Only if you're staying with me."

* * *

There was a lot that Natalie knew she didn't understand. She didn't understand why the blocks at her preschool _had _to be shared. She didn't understand why daddy didn't ask her questions in Portuguese like her momma did. She still was confused on how the potty made the water clean so fast.

And now was the biggest misunderstanding of her little life. What had she done wrong? Did her momma want to give her to those men?

Those men. She watched them warily from the little mattress in the corner. There were two of them, one the same color as Uncle Morgan, the other like her. They leaned over a computer, whispering to one another. Her little hands were bound together by plastic ties. She wanted to cry.

She had to cry.

* * *

"I think it's going to have to be a recent case." Morgan said to Spencer, pushing a few files over the table. "If it was any older than the past year, why would they wait to strike until now? These are a few where there was something standing out to me. Tell me what you think."

He frowned down at the files. Yeah, that one where the guy had given a black eye for commenting about his wife's oral hygiene. He pushed that into the 'no' pile. He flipped through a few more, and none really caught his eye. The next was a man who had targeted those who intimidated him intellectually, and began killing off teachers, accountants. He had somehow gotten background information on Spencer at one point as the case had proceeded, and took a personal vendetta against him. Spencer tossed this one back to Morgan.

"I remember thinking that he might have had a partner, early on." Reid said.

"I thought we debunked that?" Morgan said, arching a brow.

"Look into it. Pull everything. Get Rossi to talk to him. We never went deeper into that angle." he said. "Maybe we should have." he finished, clenching his jaw.

* * *

"Ok, little genius." one of the men was saying to her. She gasped, staring up at him, and scooted back into the wall, pressing herself as far away from him as she could. He was the older of the two, and he had a clean shaven face, clear blue eyes, and unusually straight teeth. They glinted at her in the dim light.

"We've got some questions for you." he growled, still smiling.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in update, I promise I'll do my best to be faster next time! I've just been mad busy! I hope you liked this Chapter, and update will be available quickly! Pleaaaaasssee let me know what you thought!**


	3. Chapter 3

The lead was just the missing piece they'd been looking for. They interviewed the man in Prison, who had recently found Jesus and was eager to help. It seemed it was just the ounce of luck the team needed.

They began tracking down every tiny piece of information they could about the man he named as his partner - Tyler Ramos. He had a record, a couple of assault charges. They profiled him quickly, he was by the book. Thought he was smarter than every police officer, every person who worked his cases. Cocky, ignorant, narcissistic. Dangerous, because he wouldn't go down without a fight.

But the hunt began. And they would take him down.

* * *

Zoe sat on the floor of the nursery, reading books outloud to her round stomach. She'd done it with Natalie, and she sure wasn't going to stop now. Spencer was in the kitchen, getting ready to head to work.

"Zoe?" he called. She came out a minute later, still clutching _Ducky Goes Swimming_. "Are you ready?"

She nodded meekly, reaching for his hand, and squeezing his ring finger extra tight, their secret sign for 'I love you.'

"How long has it been?" she asked.

"13 hours."

"That's it? It feels longer."

"We're getting closer."

* * *

"So what exactly is he gaining from this?" Morgan asked Hotch.

"He needs to feel powerful. I'm not sure he's thinking he'll be caught, he's outsmarted everyone for this long. He may have been working on Reid for a long time, and figured out where to hit him hardest."

"I don't think there's anything he'll do to Natalie." Morgan replied. "This is about Spencer, not her."

"Are we sure he doesn't want to be caught?" JJ asked. "He's not making it very hard to find him."

They had lowered down his locations to a few places. His own home, his father's house. They'd also identified a partner, a man who had been involved in the most recent assault named Martin Wilson, an African American man who profiled very similar to Tyler, and had located some properties of his that could be used. Now it was a matter of narrowing it down.

* * *

The car ride went by quickly. Zoe felt numb, and she stared out the window instead of looking at Spencer. When she looked at him now, all she could see was Natalie's face in his. She felt a sob catch in her throat.

What exactly else could she be put through? She was exhausted. She could hardly think about the impending birth of her next baby. She wish she knew what gender it was, but now there wasn't any time. _This is what you get for falling in love with a Federal Agent. _

No, she couldn't blame him. It wasn't his fault.

He reached over and rubbed her stomach, almost absentmindedly. She was grateful for the contact, and grasped his hand.

A thought suddenly occurred to her. How much she needed this life. How much she depending on her family to keep her sane. How their happiness directly affected her own. Without them, without _him, _where would she be? She hadn't ever considered another life after Natalie.

A sudden pain hit her in the base of her stomach, causing her to cry out. She looked down at herself, expecting blood to be gushing out from her, sure this meant doom for yet another child. Instead, she felt a little reassuring kick from within her, and the pain passed.

"What's wrong?" Spencer asked, panic in his voice.

"Just a weird pain is all." she said.

"Not...labor?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No. I'm fine. It passed." she said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

* * *

"Can I please go home now?" Natalie cried, remembering her manners. She hoped, futilely, that they would soften the man up. He laughed, and she shrunk back down in the corner.

* * *

"We need to go." Spencer said to the rest of the team. "I had no idea you'd all gotten this far."

"Spencer, we don't think she's in any danger, and we have to move carefully or else-"

"No!" he shouted, and everyone jumped in surprise. "This isn't about comfort zones, or profiles, or statistics. It is extremely possible that my daughter is in one of these places and so we better start breaking in some damn doors."

The room was quiet, shocked from the sudden outburst. JJ was the first to speak.

"He's right. I say we start with the partner's house first." she said. "We need to move."

Spencer was breathing heavily as he turned out of the room and out to gather his gear. Zoe was in Garcia's office, and he bust in a moment later.

"We're going." he said. They were both surprised to see his face set in such determination and anger. Zoe was on her feet the next moment.

"Let me come with." she said. He shook his head.

"I can't. This guy is volatile, and unpredictable. He'll want to hurt me in every way he possibly can, and he'll go right for you. You're staying."

"But-" she began.

"No, Zoe." he said flatly. "I'm bringing her back to you. It's going to be okay." he reached for her and kissed her on the forehead, and then was gone.

"Jeez." Garcia said, turning back to her monitors and pulling up all of the vehicle tracking information and the list of locations they were searching. Zoe fell back into her chair, dumbfounded.

* * *

With precision and speed, the two SUVs darted around traffic and towards the first house - and what seemed like the best bet. Spencer sat in the passenger seat of the car Morgan drove, his head in his hands.

"You know we have to go in first, Reid." Morgan said. Reid nodded.

"Just be careful."

"We always are."

* * *

Spencer paced in front of the SUV, watching the team kick down the door. He was on edge, he could hardly breathe. He hoped so much that this was the place his daughter could be. He felt her close by. He could sense it.

They were inside much longer than usual. Oh god, oh god, that meant a stand off, or a hostage situation. He felt bile rising in his throat. He needed to go in. He needed to help.

He jogged towards the now broken door, and peered inside. It was empty. Everyone must be in the basement. He took out his gun and crept downstairs, peering into the dim lit room.

Just as he expected, everyone's guns were drawn. It was quiet, but he could hear Morgan gently negotiating with whoever was down there.

Suddenly, he felt the hauntingly familiar feeling of a cold gun barrel against his head. He closed his eyes, feeling truly defeated.

"Drop it, agent." a deep voice said from behind him.

Everyone downstairs looked up in surprise. Halfway down the steps, Tyler's partner, Martin, pressed a gun against Spencer's temple. JJ and Alex turned their guns towards Martin, while Hotch, Morgan, and Rossi kept theirs on Tyler. Spencer didn't see his daughter, but she heard her crying.

"You're not going to get out of this, Wilson." JJ said, her blue eyes focused directly where she was aiming - right between the eyes. "Put it down."

"Let us go." he said, trying to barter for his freedom. "You can have the kid, let us go or I'll kill him."

"You aren't making any sense!" Tyler shouted. "What are you doing?"

"I'm killing him! For you, boss." Martin explained. Tyler groaned in frustration.

"You're just as dumb as they are." Tyler said. Reid felt the gun lower slightly as Martin was thrown off by the sudden insult.

He took the opportunity to elbow the gun out of the man's hand. It was a quick, sudden movement that Morgan had taught him years ago, but this was the first time he'd used it. With a sigh, Martin simply placed his hands on his head and waited. As JJ and Alex remained trained on the man, Spencer backed down the stairs and picked up his own misplaced weapon. Tyler made another noise of frustration.

Now, Spencer could see why they were in hostage form, and his heart stopped. There was a gun pointed at his daughter, who was sitting with her arms bound on the floor.

"Daddy!" she cried, tears dripping down her face. JJ moved to place cuffs on Martin, and escorted him out.

"Oh good, _Daddy _came in to see the show." Tyler growled.

Spencer's hands were shaking so much he lowered his gun, knowing he couldn't shoot straight.

"Just put it down, Ramos." Morgan said. "You're either going to leave in cuffs or a body bag, you have the choice."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "You think you're all so smart, don't you. Because you have a gun and a badge? How smart you are. So intelligent."

Spencer suddenly took a long step and placed himself between the man's gun and his daughter. The sense of relief as he did so was palpable within him. Tyler laughed.

"But you're just as stupid as the rest of us."

Morgan's gun fired at the same Tyler's did.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: AHHH! Hi, I am so so sO sorry for the delay in update, I've been working very late shifts and I don't have a lot of free time - but worry not, your wait is now over. Enjoy, and please review.**

Natalie screamed in fear as Spencer fell into the mattress, just missing her legs. She leaned forward, looking down at his face and crying out.

"Daddy!" she screeched. Spencer groaned in pain, and winced up at her.

"It's okay, sweetie." he assured her. "He hit the magic vest."

She sobbed, throwing her head onto his chest. He hurriedly reached for his knife and undid her zipties gently, sitting up and pulling her against him. He turned her away from the body of Tyler, smoothing her hair back and whispering to her.

"It's okay, it's okay, you're okay." he said as she cried into his chest. He leaned against the wall, clutching her, gasping for air as his body thrived with the feeling of relief.

Ignoring the stinging pain radiating in his chest, he sat up, and Morgan helped him stand. He wanted to get Natalie out of the basement as soon as possible, and he hurried up the stairs with her.

"You should get checked out by a paramedic." JJ said to him as he exited the house. "And she definitely does."

"I'm fine." Spencer said, and she smiled slightly.

"I used to tell _you _that all the time. But you would insist and insist and then I'd let them look at me just to get you to shut up." she said. "How's she?"

Spencer noted the sobs had ceased, and instead were now just sleepy little whimpers. He realized what he needed to do, and fumbled for his phone in his pocket, pressing the '2' on the speed dial.

"What happened?" Zoe's voice asked on the other end urgently.

"I got her." he said. "She's fine."

He heard the sob of relief on the other end, and his stomach clenched.

"I'm going to have the paramedics look at her just to make sure, but I'll be back soon."

"Promise?" she gasped into the phone.

"Promise." he looked down at Natalie. "Tallie, do you want to talk to mommy?"

"Mommy?" she blinked up, confused. He held the phone to her ear, and heard Zoe say something that made Natalie grin sheepishly and snuggle closer to her father. "Love you too mama."

After the paramedics cleared her for going home, only recommending a trip to her pediatrician in the next week or so, Spencer opened the back seat and attempted to set Tallie inside, but she wailed and held him tighter. He slid into the seat and set her on his lap, which satisfied her.

He reached underneath the seat in front of him and searched blindly for the bag he'd brought along. When he found it, he pulled it up to the seat and set it next to them. He unzipped it and pulled out Natalie's pink bunny. She made an excited noise, and clutched the animal as tightly and close to her chest as Spencer held her to his.

* * *

Zoe wished she could pace, but knew if she tried to waddle back and fourth she'd exhaust herself. She instead sat at Spencer's desk, waiting, just like she had so long ago. Only now, along with the framed picture of him and Henry, there were numerous snapshots of herself and Natalie, and tucked into the frame of another was the printout of the ultrasound they'd gotten a couple of weeks before. She felt so exhausted, finally she was crashing from the intense adrenaline high she'd had for the past 16 hours. It felt like the baby was just as exhausted, instead of constant nervous kicking and punching and tumbling, she only felt feeble flutters of movement.

She saw the door open in the corner of her eye, and when she heard her daughter cry for her from across the room, another surge of emotion filled her and her eyes welled up with tears. She stood, turning to walk to her baby, but Spencer was at her side before she could hardly take a step. Natalie reached out for her mother, and curled up against her chest, burying her face in Zoe's thick curly hair. They both cried.

In the car ride home, Zoe and Natalie both fell asleep in the backseat. Spencer watched in the rear view mirror as they slept, taking extra care to drive carefully and smoothly so neither would be awoken.

Zoe sluggishly carried her daughter into their house. She carried her into their bedroom, and Spencer followed. With Zoe curled around the sleeping Tallie, Spencer laid on the other side. As the minutes passed, Zoe stroking Natalie's hair as she slept, Spencer felt the usual hum of love fill the room again. The feeling of family and safety, a feeling he hardly got to feel until the past few years.

"Are you okay, Zo?" he whispered. She nodded.

"Thank you for bringing her back home." she said. "You're an amazing father."

He closed his eyes, kissing her hand, smiling barely.

"Look at how far we've come, Spence." she said. "6 years ago, I was just a scared college student and you were my knight in shining armor. Now look at us. At her."

"I'm so sorry." he said again. "That I wasn't here."

"Shh." she said. "She's home now. That's all that matters."

Suddenly, Natalie's eyes squeezed tighter, and she fought with an invisible force. After a minute, she made a terrified noise, and her eyes shot open.

"Daddy?" she cried.

"I'm here." he said as she reached for him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It was just a bad dream." he said, running his fingers through her hair. "We're here now."

"Uh..." Zoe began, looking down at her legs. Spencer sat up, expecting, perhaps, that her water had broken. Instead, the stain that was growing from between her legs, was dark red.


End file.
